Andrey Amador

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re: Re:

On the podium for now. That won't last, the competition is much greater this year, but really one hell of a ride today from Amador. He can be incredibly valuable for Valverde, even more now when he is a genuine thread in the GC.

Wtf??? The competition is much greater this year?? Holy crap...

Yes, it most definitely is.

how on earth is competition better this year? name me any gc guy here who is better than aru and contador. only nibali at best

 

[portugal11]

Re: Re:

On the podium for now. That won't last, the competition is much greater this year, but really one hell of a ride today from Amador. He can be incredibly valuable for Valverde, even more now when he is a genuine thread in the GC.

Wtf??? The competition is much greater this year?? Holy crap...

Yes, it most definitely is.

how on earth is competition better this year? name me any gc guy here who is better than aru and contador. only nibali at best

Thanks ryo. Even landa was much better last year...

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

On the podium for now. That won't last, the competition is much greater this year, but really one hell of a ride today from Amador. He can be incredibly valuable for Valverde, even more now when he is a genuine thread in the GC.

Wtf??? The competition is much greater this year?? Holy crap...

Yes, it most definitely is.

how on earth is competition better this year? name me any gc guy here who is better than aru and contador. only nibali at best

Landa is about the same as Aru, who was in really bad shape last year. This year has Bala, Nibali, a much better Kruijswijk, Zakarin, Chavez, Pozzo, Majka, Fugslang, an Uran with better climbing form and a Hesjedal who hasn't lost his usual 20 minutes in the opening week. Last year had maybe better top riders, but Caruso managed to finish 8th and Geniez 9th, with Monfort 11th. They're all great riders, but aren't exactly the riders you expect in a top 10 with great depth. This year has more riders around and slightly better than Amador.

 

[Bushman]

Re: Re:

On the podium for now. That won't last, the competition is much greater this year, but really one hell of a ride today from Amador. He can be incredibly valuable for Valverde, even more now when he is a genuine thread in the GC.

Wtf??? The competition is much greater this year?? Holy crap...

Yes, it most definitely is.

how on earth is competition better this year? name me any gc guy here who is better than aru and contador. only nibali at best

The depth is much, much bigger this year. Last year the best of the rest was Amador, Hesjedal, Kruijswijk (who lost 7 minutes in the first week), Caruso, Geniez and Trofimov.
This year we have apart from Landa and Nibali, who are around the same level as the 'big 3' of last year (maybe not form wise but that is another discussion), Valverde, Majka, a seemingly improved Kruijswijk, Uran who seems to be back to his best climbing wise, Zakarin riding his first GC in a GT and who is in great shape, Chaves, Pozzovivo, Fuglsang etc. The field in this year's Giro is quite spectacular if you look past the best 2 or 3 riders.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Pretty much what the 2 posters above said, depth is the keyword. The top 10 apart from the podium was actually super weak compared to other GT's. This time around, we have more depth than I can ever remember in a Giro.

 

[hfer07]

Amador was superb today - what a pity the weather played against everyone, but even with that limitation, Andrey performed weel- even when he faded a bit at the end, but he's really in good shape.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Amador was superb today - what a pity the weather played against everyone, but even with that limitation, Andrey performed weel- even when he faded a bit at the end, but he's really in good shape.

He, Jungels and Roglic would've battled it out if not the rain, he was going immensely fast on the first 15 kilometres!

Can we take pink tomorrow? I doubt that very much, I think Brambilla or Jungels will hold decently on.

 

[Anderis]

If the stage will be raced hard, I don't think Jungels will be able to stay within a minute of GC contenders. He already struggled quite much on stage 8.

Brambilla is a bit of an unknown and I wonder if GC teams will not regret gifting him some time on stage 8.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

If the stage will be raced hard, I don't think Jungels will be able to stay within a minute of GC contenders. He already struggled quite much on stage 8.

Brambilla is a bit of an unknown and I wonder if GC teams will not regret gifting him some time on stage 8.

Jungels seems quite a bit stronger than everyone expected him to be. He looked superbly on the second last climb today, never seemed in trouble at all, what a rider!

Not hard enough stage today to do anything really, Amador tried and props to him. I think he will struggle quite a bit on stage 13, but then again, I thought he would struggle on the steep pitches today. Looks like he is stronger than last year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Amador is the ultimate team player, I would really like him to win a stage, but it will be really hard for him in the real mountains. Seems stronger than lat year. What a rider he has become in this race.

 

[Christian]

Everyone thinks Costaricans are so great but in reality they have the ugliest accent

 

[tristecsinamigos]

Everyone thinks Costaricans are so great but in reality they have the ugliest accent

Are you confusing Costa Rica and Puerto Rico (on purpose)?

Costa Ricans have Colombian-ish accent which makes for the best accent

 

[Valv.Piti]

Everyone thinks Costaricans are so great but in reality they have the ugliest accent

Gotta embrace the few Costaricans in the peloton...

Amador to attack tomorrow!!

 

[gospina]

Everyone thinks Costaricans are so great but in reality they have the ugliest accent

Are you confusing Costa Rica and Puerto Rico (on purpose)?

Costa Ricans have Colombian-ish accent which makes for the best accent

IMO, there is no "ugly" or "pretty" accent, that's just a result of the regionalization of people though time.
that being said, Costa Ricans, some Colombians (Central) and Panamenians have a very similar accent that is close to the "TV accent" most spanish stations try to have, like a neutral, emphasis on syllable pronunciation.

There is some regionalization that has come out with some unique accents, mainly parts of Mexico and Ecuador where there is a subtle rhythmic approach to speaking. Coastal accents are similar (Costeño Colombiano sounds more like Dominican accent than a central Colombian accent). Cuban and Puerto Rican accents are also very similar. Argentina has a HUGE influence from Italian and German languages. There are some I cannot understand (fast dominican accent, some peruvian), but doesn't make them "uglier". Perhaps Spanglish is the ugliest, NewYoRican maybe, but that's where I live now and that's what I'm developing now, so I'm biased to say it's ugly. Colombians, by the way, have adopted Amador as one of our own now

 

[gospina]

Colombians, by the way, have adopted Amador as one of our own now

I realize we shouldn't have the gall, the audacity, the cojones to just claim Amador as one of our own, so as self-proclaimed US representative of Colombians, I officially trade you Duarte, Arredondo & half a year of Betancur (the 1st quarter and the last quarter) for Amador. Dicho y Hecho.

 

[Christian]

Everyone thinks Costaricans are so great but in reality they have the ugliest accent

Are you confusing Costa Rica and Puerto Rico (on purpose)?

Costa Ricans have Colombian-ish accent which makes for the best accent

IMO, there is no "ugly" or "pretty" accent, that's just a result of the regionalization of people though time.
that being said, Costa Ricans, some Colombians (Central) and Panamenians have a very similar accent that is close to the "TV accent" most spanish stations try to have, like a neutral, emphasis on syllable pronunciation.

There is some regionalization that has come out with some unique accents, mainly parts of Mexico and Ecuador where there is a subtle rhythmic approach to speaking. Coastal accents are similar (Costeño Colombiano sounds more like Dominican accent than a central Colombian accent). Cuban and Puerto Rican accents are also very similar. Argentina has a HUGE influence from Italian and German languages. There are some I cannot understand (fast dominican accent, some peruvian), but doesn't make them "uglier". Perhaps Spanglish is the ugliest, NewYoRican maybe, but that's where I live now and that's what I'm developing now, so I'm biased to say it's ugly. Colombians, by the way, have adopted Amador as one of our own now

Intersting information - thanks for sharing! I am glad people took my comment in the humourous way that it was (partly) meant. Cause I have to say there was some honesty to it, as I recently discovered the Costa Rican accent, and something very offputting to me is that they don't roll the "r", but rather pronounce the "r" as a US-American would. I can also relate to what you are saying about the "TV accent". If you watch the Latin-American History Channel or A&E, you get constant commercials for Open English or English Live, and the lady actor says with a horribly generic pronounciation "No creeeeas en falsas promeeesas - habla ingleees más rapido...." (without rolling the "r" in "rapido"). I usually turn on mute right away when they go to commercials.

But all that aside I am happy that a central-american is doing so well, AFAIK he is the only central-american in PT so that is a big deal! Not sure if there are many more on PCT level. I live in Nicaragua and a lot of people ride bikes for transportation because they can't afford a car, but there is also a growing movement of people who ride for fun. It is a lot of MTB though as there are great nature paths. Recreational road cycling on the other hand is tricky because the traffic is horrible.

 

[gospina]

Pink Jersey!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Pink Jersey!

Yes yes.

Such a big day for Amador. I will be cheering for him all day tomorrow on the queen stage in the pink jersey, what a sight it will be.

 

[Arredondo]

Story of the day!

 

[Carols]

Chapeau Andrey and Costa Rica!!!!

 

[gunara]

How big is he in Costa Rica now that he's in pink? Btw, who's Costa Rica's biggest sportsman now? Navas?
I always have this image of Claudia Poll winning Olympic gold from the 90's, and Wanchope's legs

 

[Laplaz]

Really nice for him and the whole country! But i fear he will lose the maglia rosa today...

 

[gospina]

Re:

How big is he in Costa Rica now that he's in pink? Btw, who's Costa Rica's biggest sportsman now? Navas?
I always have this image of Claudia Poll winning Olympic gold from the 90's, and Wanchope's legs

I'll say this: 2 years ago, he was interviewed in the Movistar team presentation, 2013, before Nairo came in 2nd at tour. He was cheered a lot, specially by female fans. He was described then as the "heart throb" of Movistar.
He was described as a strong domestique then, all terrain, more like Bala than a pure climber. It was nice to see him then, a Costa Rican, to be in the WT.
I was happy for him with 4th last year and how much he was respected by the peloton and how much he climbed in popularity. Now he has the pink. So, he has the looks, he has youth, he is a strong rider. Movistar as a company already wants to have more of a telecom presence in Central and South America. Conclusion: He will be marketed like crazy now. Good for him!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Thanks for that insider, gospina.

So the president calls today and the Costaricans will party to the sun rises?

 

[hfer07]

Sooo pleased to watch him achieving that long lasting goal! When you read what happened to him years back on that awful incident in Costa Rica, -which almost costed his very own life- and the way he bounced back with courage & determination to better himself...... -Oh man - cycling is definitely for tough men!